Online Cleaning Device for the Furnace Uptake Transition at PASAR Smelter

Copper smelting operations historically experience severe accretions in the transition between the off-gas uptake and the waste heat boiler (WHB). In flash smelting furnaces (FSF), accretions in the uptake outlet grow towards the uptake roof, eventually blocking enough of the off-gas path that the FSF must be shut down for manual cleaning. This results in downtime, worker safety issues, and large falling chunks of solidified buildup that can damage the WHB. A cleaning device was retrofitted at the Glencore Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corp (PASAR) smelter in 2017, which regularly clears the FSF uptake shaft to boiler transition automatically while the furnace is online. By regularly removing the accretion before it accumulates and becomes dense and difficult to remove, PASAR has essentially eliminated issues associated with transition buildup. This small retrofit made significant improvements to the PASAR operation and has proven to be a practical solution to deal with transition buildup, downtime, and operator safety. This paper describes the uptake throat scraper implementation at PASAR smelter; design features, performance, and benefits to operations and worker safety are described.